Review: Barsana

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Cara-Louise Scott reviews Indian restaurant Barsana, and praises the variety of vegan and vegetarian options on offer.

Cara-Louise Scott Digital Editor

Located down Harborne High Street, Barsana is a new Indian restaurant and takeaway, serving purely vegetarian and vegan food.

I visited Barsana unexpectedly just before Christmas when my friends and I went out to Harborne, with the intention of going somewhere else. However, much to our luck, the place we wanted was full and instead our gaze landed on Barsana, a restaruant we had never seen before. Given that two of my housemates are vegan and I am vegetarian, this seemed like a good choice.

Upon entry, Barsana boasts rich, elegant decor with a white and grey interior, grey sofa seats and black leather seats, as well as chandeliers gracefully hanging from the ceiling. For the location, small size, and lower prices of the restaurant, we were not expecting the extensive beautiful interior.

As Barsana also does takeaways, the restaurant itself is quite small. We were lucky to be visiting mid-week so it was not busy and at one point, we were the only table in there. However, I would recommend booking in advance if you plan on visiting on a Friday or Saturday night, as I imagine it can get busy on the weekends.

The restaurant serves a delicious array of curries, IndoChinese food, street food, rice, breads, and even desserts. All of the options are vegetarian and a high majority of the options (I would say around 75%) are vegan.

The prices on the menu vary but all are affordable. The main course dishes range from £5-12, with most costing between £7-10. Breads, rice and chips range from £3-5 depending on your choice.

I chose the ‘Veg Noodle’ which consisted of stir-fried noodles, a heap of vegetables and chilli and soy sauce. The vegeta- ble noodles were flavourful from the soy sauce, with a slight spicy kick from the chilli. The noodles and vegetables mixed together created a heavenly flavour and texture.

The dish itself was quite small but I chose to have the ‘Tandoori Roti’ on the side which made the meal more filling. It came with massive pieces of roti in the basket and both were soft and had a slightly warm, oily dough feeling to them. If you have a curry, I would recommend pairing it with roti.

My friends tried two different curries and the chips; they all found the food to be mouthwateringly delicious and packed with flavour. Most of the dishes were on the smaller side, however, so I would recommend getting a side to go with it.

The service was fairly quick and the waitress was friendly and attentive. The restaurant also has a large drinks menu, including ciders, beers, mocktails, soft drinks, and hot drinks, as well as a buy any two cocktails for £14.99 (not quite 2-4-1 but still cheaper than buying two cocktails separately).

From my experience of Barsana, it is one of the best Indian restaurants in the local area and I will certainly be visiting again before I finish uni. If you are looking for a new Indian restaurant to visit that is local but outside of the city centre, be sure to check out Barsana’s enticing menu of veggie Indian food.